Couple runs to happily ever after

by Sean Ruppert, Staff Writer
   Running has been a big part of Kevin and Linda Kenny’s lives.
   The Kendall Park couple, both 43, met when they were lined up next to each other at a 5K race. In 1995 Mr. Kenny proposed to her after another 5K race in Hoboken. The couple, now with three children all under the age of 5, are as active as ever. This year, on Nov. 2, they will run the New York City Marathon together.
   ”Running has really been a lifestyle for us,” Ms. Kenny said. “It’s good, it’s healthy, it’s about family togetherness. It’s just a basic, simple life that we like to lead.”
   Ms. Kenny is a teacher at Green Brook Middle School, in Green Brook, and Mr. Kenny works in finance. He said he first struck up a conversation with her before a 5K race in Demerest.
   ”I was a little nervous, so I turned to her and asked her a few things about the race. We started a conversation and the rest is history,” Mr. Kenny said. “In keeping with the running tradition I proposed to her at another 5K race. Running has been part of our lives. Now when we go to a race we try to find ones with kid races as well.”
   They both go for runs several times a week, and belong to a group called the New York Road Runners, which holds various races throughout the year. Anyone who participates in nine of the group’s events qualifies for the New York marathon, which is how they both gained entry.
   Both said they have to be cooperative in order to balance their careers, children and the training it takes to run a marathon.
   ”One adult will have to watch the kids while the other gets their run in,” Mr. Kenny said. “It can be grueling, almost more so in finding the time to do it than the actual running. There are a lot of early mornings and late nights; it takes a lot of planning and cooperation.”
   This will be Ms. Kenny’s fourth New York City Marathon. Mr. Kenny also has run three marathons; however, this will be his first New York City Marathon.
   Ms. Kenny said she ran the marathon the first time after her brother signed up for it. However, before the marathon he received a job transfer, and she ended up running it without him.
   The marathon draws about 40,000 participants, with more than 100,000 people usually applying to run in the race. The participants are mostly chosen through a lottery system; however, some qualify through the participation with the New York Road Runners. The race begins in Staten Island, N.Y., crossing over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn. From there it traverses Queens and the Bronx before ending in Manhattan, near Tavern on the Green in Central Park.
   Ms. Kenny said she and her husband read a lot of books on how to train for such a race. She said at the height of their training, they will run about 40 miles a week, and then taper down to about 20 miles a week before the race. She said running the marathon in New York is a unique experience.
   ”It is exhausting and exhilarating. Running through the city you meet people, you have your iPod, you see all the sites. While you are going people just want to high-five you. By the 300th high-five your hand starts to hurt,” she said. “I take a big piece of medical tape and write my name on it, and people will yell ‘come on Linda you can do it!’ It sounds silly but that really helps keep you going.”
   Ms. Kenny said that in a 26.2-mile race, the longest part by far is that last .2 miles.
   ”That is really the hardest part; there are signs that count down from 300 yards and down,” she said.
   Mr. Kenny said that despite the fact that it’s a race, the two will not be vying with one another for bragging rights.
   ”We agreed to run together, no competition,” he said. “She will run her race, and I will run mine.”